Yes! I am a doodler. Are you? If I am sitting on the phone and there is a pen and a piece of paper near me something happens - and by the time I have hung up whatever the paper was is covered in scribble. Sometimes it causes trouble. ﻿
"What happened to the water bill?" was the last difficult question I had to answer this week. What had once been just a water bill was actually now a piece of blue biro artwork. Normally this would not have been a big problem - but when you want to open a bank account and have to go to the bank with the all important ID documents, you know - passport and a utility bill ..... which is now covered in my spontaneous drawings .................﻿

Trouble is not far away.

So - now I will try to be more selective in my doodling material - but still, sometimes accidents do happen.

Etymology
The word doodle first appeared in the early 17th century to mean a fool or sitmpleton. It may derive from the German Dudeltopf or Dudeldop, meaning simpleton or noodle.

Doodling v Drawing

Let's just clear one thing up.Doodling is not the same thing as formally drawing.
A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. So, if I sit down and focus on just drawing, then that is a drawing. To be a doodle I am drawing, but not really thinking about it.

Doodling has a bad reputation

Now - when I was in school, doodling was severely frowned upon as being a waste of time , or even worse, proof that you were not concentrating. How wrong they were!!! Recent studies by Professor Jackie Andrade, of the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth have come to my rescue and give scientific proof (obviously the best kind) that doodling is NOT the product of a wandering mind, but, in fact, the complete opposite! Doodling is not my mind 'daydreaming' but rather a way to force it to stay focussed on the present.In fact, much like chocolate and red wine, doodling has benefits. Who knew?

﻿So what, exactly, are these benefits? ﻿

I liked this one so much I painted it afterwards

Doodling increases creativity
When we process information and turn this into learning there are several 'ways' or 'modalities' our brains like to use. Here are the most common; auditory, kinesthetic, visual, reading, writing. Each of us has our preferences. My brain learns best from images and doing things. Have you ever thought about how you like to learn before?
It is believed that if we are to really learn and assimilate new information we need to engage at least two of these modalities at the same time - or one modality and an emotional connection (sounds complicated.... but it really isn't)
Anyway, the great thing about doodling is that is that it uses 3 of these modalities straight away!

Visual, because we seeing what we are drawing

Kinesthetic, because we are using our hands to draw

Auditory, because we are processing information by listening to what someone is saying to us

Doodling improves your focus and concentrationOften people think that doodlers are daydreaming, with the mind wandering off somewhere. However, Professor Jackie Andrade has been found that the act of doodling actually reinforces the brain to pay attention instead of drifting off. Sunni Brown, an eminent doodler who has made a business out of teaching big businesses the benefits of doodling, states that the act of doodling itself, drawing shapes and symbols, actually forces the mind to slow down and focus on the present. (Nice work if you can get it, Sunni!)

Must have been a pretty frustrating phone conversation

Doodlers have better memory
Back to Professor Jackie Andrade again. She found that doodlers recalled facts 30 percent better than non-doodlers. You can read more about the study here. The bottom line is that process of doodling helps us remember things better because it brings the information currently being absorbed into a more saturated and sensory experience, allowing a clearer picture of the facts in our memory.

Doodling helps you see the big picture
According to philosopher Jesse Prinz, who is a professor at City University of New York, doodling helps you hit the sweet spot in your brain, the spot where you are paying close attention but you are not overthinking things.
Sometimes when we are too focused on something, we overthink things, especially the little details that often don’t matter. As a result of focusing on the small details, we fail to see the big picture. By doodling, we don’t pay as much attention to the small details of the information we absorb. Instead, we tend to focus on overarching ideas, which are paramount to seeing the big picture.

I have no idea what sparked this off!

Doodles and Quilting

With all this free 'inspiration' to hand I think doodles lend themselves to free motion quilting patterns very nicely. As an experienced doodler I have lots of material to put my hands on. Stuck for a FMQ pattern? Put on your favourite music and sing along. Or maybe phone a friend and have a natter - but do it with a pen in hand and a pile of scrap paper (no water bills please). Just let your hand do what it likes and I will bet that you will come up with something that you could turn into a free motion quilting pattern. Here are the two doodled pages that I used on my Heron on the Vlei and Flamingoes on the Vlei quilts. There; more proof.

These two pages of doodles became the background FMQ design for my 'Modition' series of quilts

﻿Doodle Birds﻿

Which brings me on to my latest project: Doodle Birds. I am actually revisiting a technique which I tried out about 5 years ago, early on in my ventures into Free Motion Quilting. I decided I wanted to get better at FMQ - and there is nothing like a bit of practice to see improvements. It all began with a doodled bird.................... and this is where I have ended up.

It takes time and patience to create a Doodle Bird, but it has improved my FMQ enormously. If you think you would like improve your FMQ then why not give one a try? I will be teaching a workshop at Midsomer Quilting in Somerset on 14th November, but why wait? Get out a pen and some scrap paper, phone a friend and go for it! What have you got to lose?

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This is my 'quilt-tin'. It is so useful that I keep one in my handbag, so wherever I am, when I have time on my hands, I have something nice to keep me occupied.

As it is small and self contained it is also perfect for travel - so if you are on a train, plane in the car or on the bus, you can pull it out and get going on a little project!

I made it from bits and bobs I already have - or scraps I found in my recycling bin.﻿

So this is what is in my 'quilt-tin'?

I started with a small tin with a hinged lid needle threadersome pre-threaded needlespre-cut embroidery thread - on a piece of thick carda short piece of tape measurethimblebottle top pin cushiona tiny 'bulldog' type clip2 bobbins wound with threadnail clipperscheap scissors (blades shorter than 4 inches*)

and in the lid section.....5 pre threaded needles5 pins

Start with an empty tin and add a few strips of loop side velcro and stick on magnet strips.

Pre-threaded needles are good if you are in a bouncy vehicle - that can make threading needles very challenging!

Metal bobbins stick to the magnetic strip so don't fall out of the tin so easily.

Nail clippers are aeroplane friendly.

6. Scissors with blades less than 4" in length are allowed on aeroplanes. Be ready to lose them however, as not all airport security is familiar with the law!

7. A little 'bulldog' clip is super handy - put one or two in the tin.

8. Make a bottle top pincushion and stick a piece of (loop side) velcro on the base to keep it in the tin. The loop velcro also sticks on all sorts of surfaces if you take it out.

9. Keep to 5 pins - it is usually enough, and security checks don't seem to bothered with just a few. (Technically you are allowed as many as you want).

Sew Easy make a thread cutter on a lanyard which you can sometimes get onto a plane - they are cheap enough to risk losing. Clover make a heart shaped alternative too.

Alternatives to scissors or nail clippers

Recycle an old dental floss container - it has a very effective 'thread' cutter. If you can open it you may even be able to fit a bobbin of thread inside.

Bottle top pincushion

I stick a piece of hook side velcro (the scratchy side) on the bottom of my bottle top pincushion. It sticks to the loop side velcro in the tin - but also to lots of other surfaces too.

I love these tins so much I actually have lots of them - one for beading projects, one for a small handbag.......

and the last one I have just because I love the tin! (bottom left) I found it at a junk shop and it used to hold throat sweets.

I am planning some big travel over the next few weeks and months - so my quilt-tins will be coming in very handy. I will blog some pictures of them on my travels soon!

I can recommend making up a portable little sewing kit if you don't already have one - keep it small and neat and I am sure you will be surprised at how often you can use it. They also make great gifts for quilting friends!

Thanks for reading.

Please feel free to share my website or blog with your friends by using the buttons to the right. If you would like to receive an e mail each time I post a new blog, please click here. I promise to never send you junk or give your address to anybody else.